1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a finishing apparatus and finishing method for finishing a short slide fastener from a long slide fastener chain, and more particularly, to a finishing apparatus for finishing a slide fastener, having a feature in its feeding mechanism for the slide fastener chain when a slider is set on the slide fastener chain.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Publication (JP-B) No. 63-7761 has proposed a method for continuously carrying out attaching a slider and a top end stop to a long slide fastener chain in a same process, wherein an engaging portion and a space portion having no engaging element are disposed alternately in a process of manufacturing the slide fastener. According to this method, a bottom end stop is attached preliminarily to an end portion in a downstream of the space portion of such a long continuous fastener chain. The fastener chain is carried in a single direction by upper and lower feed rollers each having a passage space for the engaging elements in mesh. If an end portion in an upstream of the space portion is detected by a sensor, grippers grip right and left fastener tape portions of the space portion based on this detection signal and advance by a predetermined distance. In addition, the grippers move in directions perpendicular to a feeding direction of the fastener chain and departing from each other so as to expand and open the space portion. A slider held by a slider holder is inserted into an opening made by this expansion and set therein. With this state, the gripping of the grippers is released, so that inner edges of the right and left fastener tape portions are inserted into engaging element guide passages in the slider. During this time, the grippers return to a standby position.
Subsequently, the slide fastener chain is carried backward and stopped at a position in which the bottom end stop strikes a head of the slider or near that position. As a result of this operation, the inner edges of the tape portions of the space portion completely get into the engaging element guide passages of the slider. Then, the fastener chain is advanced and stopped at a position in which plural engaging elements in mesh disposed at a front end of an engaging element row are fitted into a rear mouth portion of the slider. The slider is released from holding by the slider holder.
On the other hand, a top end stop composed of a U-shaped piece is held by a groove portion formed between a main actuating lever and a subsidiary actuating lever of a top end stop holder in advance. A front end portion of the main actuating lever is formed in a shape of an anchor, and the subsidiary actuating lever is movable from the proximal portion of the main actuating lever toward the anchor at the front end portion. With this state, the top end stop holder is moved, so that the anchor-shaped front end portion gets into the space portion. After the right and left fastener tape portions are expanded and the top end stop is set on the inner edges of the tapes, the slide fastener chain is advanced slightly so as to bring the engaging element on the end portion in the upstream of the space portion into contact with an end face of the top end stop. The front end of the main actuating lever is pressed by a punch, so that the top end stop held in the groove portion between the main actuating lever and the subsidiary actuating lever is clamped, and consequently, the top end stop is clamped and fixed to the fastener tape portion of the space end portion. After an attachment of the top end stop is finished, an expansion lever thrusts into the space portion and expands to widen the space portion, and then, the top end stop is released from the top end stop holder. The top end stop holder and the expansion lever leave the space portion.
According to, for example, JP-B No. 6-71446, while a gripper unit grips front end portions of a slide fastener chain and advances by a predetermined distance along a finish processing passage, a space portion is opened by a cam plate, and a slider held by a slider holder thrusts into the opening so as to set the slide fastener chain in the slider. While a setting of the slider is executed, a following space portion is detected by a sensor, and when the end portion in the upstream of the space portion reaches a bottom end stop attachment position, the advancement of the gripper unit is stopped. A punch is actuated so as to clamp and fix a bottom end stop preliminarily formed in a U-shape by a bender to an end portion in the upstream of the space portion. At the same time when the bottom end stop is attached, a cutting device is actuated so as to cut the slide fastener chain in a center of the space portion. After this cutting is finished, the aforementioned gripper unit starts advancement again, and a unit of the slide fastener equipped with the slider and bottom end stop is discharged in a downstream. After this discharge is finished, the gripper unit returns to its original position so as to grip the front ends of the slide fastener chain after the cutting. Therefore, carriage of the slide fastener chain according to the JP-B No. 6-71446 is carried out by gripping of the front end and the advancement action of the gripper unit.
The above mentioned JP-B No. 63-7761 and JP-B No. 6-71446 have proposed methods for finishing a slide fastener from a general continuous slide fastener chain, and the above-described finishing can be carried out continuously in a state in which a plurality of narrow fabric pieces called fly of trousers are sewed preliminarily on the slide fastener chain in a longitudinal direction. Upon finishing, as disclosed in, for example, JP-B No. 7-4291, a fly attached to the slide fastener chain is folded into two in a width direction along a sewing line and introduced into the finishing apparatus in a state in which a row of engaging elements in mesh is exposed outside. In the slide fastener chain with the twofold fly, a fabric thickness in the width direction of the slide fastener chain necessarily differs largely across a row of engaging elements in mesh.
According to JP-B No. 7-4291, in order to prevent positions of the engaging elements to be meshed from deviating because of a twisting force applied due to a difference in the fabric thickness when the slide fastener chain is carried, each finishing process of setting the slider and attaching the bottom end stop is carried out while the slide fastener chain with the folded fly runs. In this finishing process, in an intermediate portion between a position in which a slider is to be set and a position in which the bottom end stop is to be attached, the continuous slide fastener chain is run on a drive roller which makes contract with the fastener tape on a side on which the fly has been sewed and the fastener tape on a side on which no fly is sewed. When the slider is set, the slide fastener is carried by disposing a first subsidiary actuating roller which makes contact with the fastener tape with the fly and a second subsidiary actuating roller which makes contact with the fastener tape without the fly on the fastener tapes so as to contact with them. The first and second subsidiary actuating rollers opposing are disposed above the drive roller so as to be opposed to it. After the slider is set on, the first subsidiary actuating roller is raised apart from the fastener tape with the fly, and then, the slide fastener chain is carried only by the second subsidiary actuating roller.
According to the JP-B No. 63-7761 and JP-B No. 7-4291, the slide fastener chain is carried with its fastener tape portion sandwiched by a drive roller and a driven roller. Slippage occurs between the rollers and the fastener tape in such carrying with the rollers, or a difference in carrying speed or a difference in tension force occurs between right and left corresponding fastener tapes. Consequently, positions of right and left engaging elements to be meshed deviate, so that engagement between the corresponding engaging elements is disabled, thereby producing causes for generation of defective product. In carrying a slide fastener chain with the fly as mentioned in JP-B No. 7-4291, tensile forces acting on a fastener tape on which the fly has been sewed and a fastener tape on which no fly is sewed are often unequal, so that a difference occurs in an elongation of the fastener tape, thereby likely generating a deviation in the positions of the engaging elements as described above.
On the other hand, according to JP-B No. 6-71446, there is no-fear of slippage because the slide fastener chain is carried not by rollers but by a gripper unit. However, since the slide fastener chain is carried with its right and left fastener tapes pulled directly by gripping, and at the same time, opening and closing action is applied to its space portion, more elongation than in carrying with the rollers is likely to occur in the right and left fastener tapes, thereby likely generating a deviation in the positions of the right and left engaging elements.
According to the above-mentioned three publications, the finishing process of any method is constituted of independent finishing steps and a necessary finishing member is actuated independently for each process. As a consequence, not only unreasonable force is applied to the slide fastener chain a plurality of times, but also a complicated work for highly accurately adjusting an operation timing is needed, which makes it very difficult to increase a processing speed and reduce finishing time.